Monthly Archives: May 2022

May292022

The Difficulty of Climbing

The Bridegroom comes, bringing consolation and leaving desolated. He lets us taste a bit of his ineffable sweetness; but before it can penetrate us, he hides and leaves. Now, he does this in order to teach us to fly towards the Lord. Like an eagle, he extends his wings over us and pushes us to rise. And he says: You have tasted a bit of my sweetness. Do you want to be filled with it? Run, fly to my perfumes; lift up your hearts on high, to where I am at the right hand of the Father, where you will see me, no longer in figure or enigma but face to face, in the joy, full and complete, that no one can ever take away from you. –The Ladder of Monks by Guigo II the Carthusian

spacer
May282022

Fruits

“And I must further explain, your Godliness, the difference between the operations of the Holy Spirit Who dwells mystically in the hearts of those who believe in our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ and the operations of the darkness of sin which at the suggestion and instigation of the devil, acts predatorily in us. The Spirit of God reminds us of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and always acts triumphantly with Him, gladdening our hearts and guiding our steps into the way of peace, while the false, diabolical spirit reasons in the opposite way to Christ, and its actions in us are rebellious, stubborn, and full of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. “And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:26). He who has the grace of the Holy Spirit in reward for right faith in Christ, even if on account of human frailty his soul were to die for some sin or other, yet he will not die for ever, but he will be raised by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…

On Acquisition of the Holy Spirit by Saint Seraphim of Sarov

spacer
May272022

No further Word

God could answer as follows: If I have already told you all things in My Word, My Son, and if I have no other word, what answer or revelation can I now make that would surpass this? Fasten your eyes on Him alone because in Him I have spoken and revealed all and in Him you will discover even more than you ask for and desire. You are making an appeal for locutions and revelations that are incomplete, but if you turn your eyes to Him you will find them complete. For He is my entire locution and response, vision and revelation, which I have already spoken, answered, manifested, and revealed to you by giving Him to you as a brother, companion, master, ransom, and reward. . . . If you desire me to answer with a word of comfort, behold My Son subject to Me and to others out of love for Me, and afflicted, and you will see how much He answers you. If you desire Me to declare some secret truths or events to you, fix your eyes only on Him and you will discern hidden in Him the most secret mysteries, and wisdom, and wonders of God. –St John of the Cross “Ascent of Mount Carmel”

spacer
May252022

Jesus teaches St Gemma Galgani the value of suffering

…Jesus in His infinite charity continued His graces and favors to me. One day He said to me lovingly: ‘Daughter, what should I say to you, when in your doubts, your sufferings and your adversities, you think of going to others rather than coming to Me, and you seek alleviation and comfort other than Mine.’

…………

“I knew that I deserved these reproofs, nevertheless I continued as usual, and Jesus rebuked me again saying, ‘Gemma, do you realize that you are offending Me when in your great need you come to Me last, after other creatures who cannot give you consolation? I suffer, My daughter, when I see that you forget Me.’ This last reproof sufficed and served to detach me from every creature in order to turn myself to our Creator.”

“It is true Jesus, if I think of what I have gone through as a child, and now as a grown up girl, I see that I have always had crosses to bear; But oh! how wrong are those who say that suffering is a misfortune!”

spacer
May242022

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, we ask You for the gift of Wisdom to better know You and Your divine perfections, for the gift of understanding to discern the spirit of the mysteries of the holy faith, for the gift of Counsel that we may live according to the principles of this faith, for the gift of Knowledge that we may look for counsel in You and that we may always find it in You, for the gift of Fortitude that no fear or earthly preoccupations would ever separate us from You, for the gift of Piety that we may always serve Your Majesty with a filial love, for the gift of the Fear of the Lord that we may dread sin, which offend You, O my God.

Finally, in this month dedicated to Your Virginal Spouse, Mary Most Holy, increase within us the fruits of chastity and modesty, that we may live in the purity of Your love. We ask these things through Christ, Our Lord.

Amen

spacer
spacer
May162022

Faith the superior way

The main objection to dependency on this spiritual approach to God is once again that it is a barrier to the true path of deeper faith. By payıng attention to such “locutions’, or seekng them out, a person does not live in the abyss of faith (AMC 2.29.7). Seeking these kinds of special instructions is an impediment to deeper faith. As Saint John of the Cross writes, the intellect should remain in obscurity and journey by love in darkness of faith and not by much reasoning” (AMC 2.29.5). Saint John of the Cross goes on to ask rhetorically why the intellect should deprive itself of such truths if the Holy Spirit illumines the intellect through them. His answer is that the superior illumination will always come by a recollection “purer and more refined” in faith, “in which there is no clear understanding” (AMC 2.29.6). Paying attention to the distinct or clear instruction is contrary to embracing “the communication of the abyss of faith” (AMC 2.29.7). This is far superior in worth, even though not immediatly satisfying to the mind or spirit. “In this faih God supernaturally and secretly teaches the soul and raises it up in virtues and gifts in a way unknown to it.” –‘Saint John of the Cross: Master of Contemplation’ by Father Donald Haggerty

spacer